View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens to everything the Harpies touch?

2. From whom will Julius Caesar get his name?

3. What does Aeneas see depicted on the walls of the temple that the people of Carthage are building?

4. Which of the following does the Sibyl NOT predict awaits Aeneas where he is going?

5. What does Palinurus' ghost ask Aeneas to do when he returns to the world?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the Harpies.

2. Describe the Sibyl.

3. How does talking to Anchises prepare Aeneas to go build a new city for the Trojans in Italy?

4. Describe how Venus acts as a mother toward Aeneas.

5. How does Aeneas fare as a leader in Book III? Support your answer with examples from the text.

6. Why are Dido's suitors so angry when she takes up with Aeneas?

7. What ties Aeneas and his people to the land to which they are headed to settle?

8. How does Anchises explain the process by which souls become reborn?

9. What sorts of souls live under Cretan Rhadamanthus' rule?

10. What does Jupiter predict will be the destiny of the Trojans?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The proper disposal of the dead is an important issue that runs throughout The Aeneid. Use examples from the work to explain how one should dispose of one's own dead and how one should allow one's enemy to dispose of their dead, and why.

Essay Topic 2

Similes and other detailed descriptions help the reader picture and understand things about the settings, characters, and events of this work. Identify an example of a simile being used to describe each of these three things and explain how it is used, what effect it has, and why Virgil might have used that particular simile in that particular place.

Essay Topic 3

Virgil uses foreshadowing for reasons such as to introduce events he will discuss in greater detail later, to create suspense, and to kindle his audience's interest so they will continue to listen to the story. Identify three examples of foreshadowing in this work, explain how they work, and identify what Virgil's purpose might have been for using them.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,074 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample